You nuzzled against your boyfriend's shoulder and gave the cutest pout you could muster. "Please, honey?" you begged with a sickeningly sweet voice. "Drive me to the grocery store?"

He gave a sigh and turned towards you. "Can't you take the bus?"

You jumped back after seeing that he wasn't pleased with your act. This was strange. You were used to him doing your bidding whenever you brought out the puppy eyes. "But it's dark out," you argued as you slipped your arms coyly around his shoulders. "Dinner won't be ready for another three hours if I take the bus."

"If you're so hungry, then call for pizza."

"You can't eat pizza!"

"Why not?"

You stood back and put your hands on your hips but his eyes were glued to the computer screen. "I've let you get away with ramen for breakfast and lunch for the past week."

"Five days," he pointed out.

You could only roll your eyes. "You need to eat properly for dinner, at least."

He scoffed and it made you scowl. "Does it look like I care right now? My deadline for this damn thing is Monday so just let me finish and then you can feed me all your want."

You bit your lip, trying not to lose your temper. He had the right to be cranky; his boss had dumped a ton of work on him everyday but it didn't seem fair that he was taking out his frustration on you. And if he didn't take care of his health, then who would?

You had to do something.

"You don't want to do that," he snarled as you closed the laptop on his hands.

"Take a break," you said, sliding the laptop into your arms. "You can finish it later."

He stood up, trying to use his height to intimidate you. Nice try, you thought but you took a step back nonetheless.

"Honey," he cooed in the same saccharine tone that you had used, "give me my laptop."

You shook your head. "Not until you drive me to the grocery store so I can buy some vegetables."

His arms came down and you jumped back just in time to dodge them. When you saw his eyes dart to his cellphone, you knew what he was planning. Your hand shot out and grabbed the device before he could pick it up and dial for pizza.

He let out a humourless laugh. "What do you want me to do? Pry the thing out of you?"

You shrugged. "If you can catch me."

"Easy." His hand came quick and held you by the arm before you even had the chance to think over his words. His other hand trailed down to your waist and there, he tickled you.

"No!" You writhed and protested through squeals all while trying to get away. "That's not fair!" Your boyfriend wasn't ticklish and even if he was, your hands were full.

In a fit of giggles, your knees gave way and you sank down to the ground with his arms slowly guiding you. You laughed until your side was sore and by then, you had lost the strength to hold onto the laptop. You leaned back against your boyfriend's chest as he smirked in victory.

"Easy," he repeated himself as he moved the laptop into an upright position. You sat in his lap, almost forgetting how hungry you were until he flipped open the screen.

He had been resting his chin on your head but now he sat up straight and you almost whined in disappointment. You had enjoyed having him around you and you didn't understand why—

"It's gone," he said in a tone that was much too calm.

"What's gone?" you asked, finally sitting up properly so you could see the screen. But what you saw made your heart drop.

The screen was black, the whirring of the machine had ceased, and his files were...gone.

"I—" you uttered but your boyfriend was already getting up. The chill that surrounded you from the absence of his arms almost matched the chill of dread in your heart. He would never forgive you for this. "Wait..." You stood up but saw that he had already gone to his room, locking the door behind him.

Your shoulders slumped as tears pricked the back of your eyes. How were you supposed to make it up to him now? Order some pizza?

Your feet dragged you towards the kitchen and you stubbornly told yourself that you'd be able to make something from whatever was left over in the fridge. You didn't follow your mom around the kitchen as a child for nothing.

But your mom had more ingredients than a few wrinkled tomatoes and half a pack of mushrooms.

You moved onto the pantries but found nothing more than ramen, ramen, and... a bag of whole wheat spaghetti that you had tried and didn't like. You chewed your lip, wondering if you could replicate the first dinner date that you had made for him a year ago. Of course, there'd be no meat this time around and the seasonings would be a bit different but you could do it. So you strapped on your apron and got to work.

-

You looked down at the table. Two plates of spaghetti with sautéed mushrooms, tomato sauce, and a side of fried eggs (which you found at the back of the fridge). This would do, right?

You rubbed your eyes and yawned. Throughout the cooking process, you'd been so absorbed in making the dishes to your boyfriend's liking that you had been filled with adrenaline. Now that you were done, you realized how tired you'd become. Hopefully, you wouldn't fall asleep during dinner. It wouldn't be sightly to plant your face in a plate of tomato sauce.

"Honey," you called softly, treading out of the kitchen. "Dinner's ready." You hoped he wouldn't shoot you down and stay in his room all night. You wanted to eat dinner with him, even if he refused to talk to you out of frustration. You just didn't want him cooped up, working his job with no energy.

You sighed when he didn't respond. Maybe he was going to simply ignore you from now on. "Honey?" you tried again as you leaned against his door. "I made you spaghetti. Come and eat a little." With your forehead against the door, you looked down at your feet, wishing really hard that he would say something.

But you saw that there was no light spilling out from underneath the door. It was dark in there. Was he asleep?

You tried opening the door and the knob turned willingly. You flicked on the lights and peeked inside but found nobody in there. Your boyfriend had left while you were making dinner and he had taken his work with him.

You gulped down the lump in your throat but your eyes still stung with tears and soon a few of them were falling down your cheeks. You swiped them away as you walked back into the living room. You didn't even want to go back to the kitchen. Your boyfriend was mad at you and you were mad at yourself.

You just wanted to take care of him but you were coming off like a clingy girlfriend who obsessed over her boyfriend.

"Honey, where are you? I—" Your boyfriend strode out of the kitchen in his jacket and stared at your tear-streaked face. He ran over and you couldn't help but sob as he wrapped his arms around you. "What happened? Why are you crying?"

"I'm sorry!" you tried to say but it came out as a gurgle.

Luckily, he understood. "No, don't apologize. Why are you crying? Was it something I did?"

When your sobs receded into small hiccups, he began leading you towards the kitchen and you could finally speak properly. "I'm sorry I ruined your work."

"Nah," he laughed as if you had told him a weak joke. "Autosave saved my ."

You stopped in your tracks and looked up. "Your files weren't wiped out? Then...then where did you go?"

"I went out to buy a rose."

"A rose?" You were puzzled but he took your hand and pulled you into the kitchen. In the middle of the dining table was a thin vase with a single rose standing in it.

"Spaghetti reminded me of our first date so I went out and got you a rose," he said as he pulled out a chair for you.

You let out a light laugh as you sat down. "Just like our first date."

He nodded as he took your hand and placed a kiss on your fingertips. "Just like our first date."

---

a way to a man's heart is through his stomach (◡‿◡✿) ((really though, i'm the worst at cheering people up so i was so stumped with this request omg i'm sorry it took so long i hope this never actually happens to anybody because if somebody deleted my i'd freak out))